Saturday, January 22, 2011

Blog Assignment 1

Hi everyone! My name is Alexa Howie and I am an Elementary Education major at the University of South Alabama. Although I currently live in Mobile, I have not always resided here. I was born in New York. Yes, I know what you're thinking: Yankee! A lot of my friends pick on me about my birthplace. You are probably also wondering why I moved to the south. Well, while I was a child my dad was in the Coast Guard. This meant that my family moved around quite a lot. Some of the places I've lived are lost in my childhood memories, but the places I do remember vividly are Maryland, Ohio, and "Sweet Home" Alabama! With that said, I have lived in Mobile the longest and my dad has long since retired. I'm here to stay!

Family and friends have always been important to me. My parents are my heroes and often inspire me to do certain things in my life. For example, I never would have thought about being a teacher without my mom's motivation. She is a fifth grade teacher at Booth Elementary. She also went to the University of South Alabama. She told me so many great things about the College of Education and let me visit her classroom. Through the experiences she gave me, I realized that I really wanted to be a teacher. She has encouraged me and offered all the help she can give ever since. Overall, I would say my friends and family are a wonderful support system and I have so much fun with them.

I love to have fun and stay occupied. I like to read, run, write, learn, watch tv and movies, play games, create things, take road trips, doodle, spend time with friends and family, and so much more. I love animals! I have a dog named Dixie. She can be a little crazy sometimes, but I love her cute little face.

I am very excited to be a teacher. I'm striving to be like my mom. She is a wonderful teacher, and I'm not just saying that because she is my mom. She challenges her children to be the best they can be. By the end of the year, she has helped her students reach their potential. I can tell that her students truly respect her and love her almost like she was their mother. I hope that I can inspire my children and make them the best they need to be. I've learned so many interesting things from the classes I'm in that I have become very passionate about teaching. My MA 201 course has shown me that math education in elementary schools need to be encouraged more. EDM 310 has also shown me that the technology of today can do so much for my future students in the classroom. I am going to take everything that I learn in this next semester and use it for the rest of my life.

7 comments:

  1. I'm just testing my email with this comment.

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  2. Hello Alexa! So nice to meet you. I'm glad you see the need for stronger math education young. I taught high school drop outs and it saddened me so much that most of them could barely do multiplication and division much less algebra. It's great that you have a strong role model in your mom. What grade do you want teach? I just don't think I would have the patience to teach elementary children. Well, good luck to you in your classes this semester.

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  3. Thanks for the comment Lisianna! While I would be glad to teach any of the younger grades, I really think I would prefer either fourth or fifth grade. What grade are you going to teach? Do you think you will stay with high school or try middle school?

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  4. Alexa, great to see a teacher passionate about improving herself and those she teaches. Keep up the great work

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  5. I wouldn't turn down a job to work with middle schoolers, however, I think I want to stick with high school. Actually, I see myself at minimum moonlighting as a college professor someday. If I do make it to the college level though, I want to teach history, not biology. History is my first love, biology pays the bills. (I hope! :))

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  6. A Yankee with a Dixie dog! Glad to have an enthusiastic learner in EDM310! Do you know who the thepegeek.com is? See if you can find out!

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  7. Hey Alexa! I love how well spoken you are about your mother, she's sounds like an awesome mother and teacher. I feel the same way about my mom, she's a second grade teacher and she seems to have such patience and a heart for children. I have always thought I would want to teach little kids, but lately I have had a desire to teach either fourth or fifth grade. You are the only other person I have met in education so far, that wants to teach fourth or fifth grade also. I took Math 201 last semester, it was a bit harder then I thought it was going to be. Math's just not my thing. :(

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